A use of a suction instrument in order to remove fluids from the immediate area in which surgery is being performed is well established. One such instrument widely used comprises a device connected to a suction pipe secured at its upper end to a holding block having an orifice on its upper surface which communicates with a passageway extending through the block from the suction pipe. The orifice allows the surgeon or operator to control suction selectively using a finger to occlude the orifice. Closing the orifice results in full suction at a port on the lower pipe end while opening the orifice will relieve the vacuum along the pipe. Although such a device gives adequate control of selective intermittent suction and removal of fluid, because of the positioning of the orifice on the block it cannot be conveniently cleaned. For example, often tissue or other solid materials are drawn into the suction pipe which then must be removed by passing a wire or cleaning rod through the suction pipe in order to force out the material. However, during this cleaning procedure material is often forced into the orifice and with a very short passageway extending into the blocked passageway at a right angle, it is most difficult to clean.
In certain surgical techniques, especially in microlumbar discectomy, it is desirable to utilize a retractor or a retraction instrument in order to displace vessels or nerves from their normal positions during the procedure. Such nerve or vessel displacement is especially desirable during surgery when they might otherwise lie in a position and mask or interfere with the field view of the surgeon during the micro-surgery. Moreover, where the vessel or nerve normally lies immediately adjacent material to be removed during the surgery, there is always the danger of injury to the nerve or vessel.